What can you do with a stick you find in the forest? Where can you find slugs and spiders? What sort of tree is good for climbing? A lot of children don't have a clue about these things any more.

Seriously, though? Learning how to play outside? You'd think that this would come naturally. If a kid runs around in a forest and picks up a stick; do you really think that this child won't figure out on his/her own what sort of things you can do with it? Since when do children need an instruction guide on how to play with a stick.

The article continues that many parents consider it to be "safer and easier to keep children inside. Their clothes don't get dirty that way."

I'm guessing it's more about the parents than the children. There's so much overprotection these days. When parents do take their kids to a forest, it's often to the protected play area.

You know how I like to help out my sister with the kids when I can (and when she needs it). Well, today was such a situation. The twins have to be picked up from school before 5 o'clock and both parents had other places to be so they asked me to do it. I usually work past 5 but I was able to leave earlier today. The problem was that their school is in a part of Riga I never go to, and I had problems getting there. I had decided to walk the last part of the distance, and I had chosen a street that led nowhere and I had to walk back and take a different route. As a result I was 20 minutes late and the teacher had had to stay late because of that and the boys were tired and rather apathetic. I just hate it when I plan something and then I can't execute it well and I inconvenience other people as a result of that.